indoor safari park

 
today we went to the indoor safari park for a gladney event. we all had so much fun! most of the kids were scared of the animal rides but noah loved it! although he was too small for most of the things there.. he did manage to crawl up the stairs to try go down the slide.. mommy had to improvise and had to climb up to get him..he was already in line to go down! he thinks he is a little bigger than he actually is. noah loved to play with all the other kids and was hilarious running up them .. trying to grab and knock them down :O 
think daddy needs to tone his wrestling down a notch.. may not be so good with other kids. haha. 

 

 

our happy family

a sweet friend, angela, took these pictures a few weeks ago. she just posted these on her blog.. these are so great and i can't wait to see all the other ones! and you know i will post more! noah did a pretty good job.. he did get fussy in between shots and we had elmo on hand to try to get him to perk up. now that he's toddling all over the place.. he won't sit still. after we were done.. we went to our favorite spot, cowboy chow :)

i LOVE this last one.. what a happy guy!

our funny valentine

Well, daddy was sick as a dog for valentines day but we managed to have a fun little night. noah got his little valentines from the family.. elmo book, pj's, love monster, balloon, books, cookies, and a cow sippy cup. we had a fun little night.. took a walk in his wagon for the first time in a while.. ate some dinner, and watched one of his favorite shows, the backyardagins. he is such a big boy.. he can now get on and off his rcoking zebra (or as he calls it, his cow). what a perfect valentines day <3

             

            

snowed in

yup. we got snowed (more like iced) in the past few weeks. we had a good four days week before last and one day last week. we enjoyed being locked in so much... just us three. thankfully i loaded up on his favorite cookie monster cookies and we had lots of sesame street shows stored up for him. it was simply amazing to spend time with him.. and to see him grow and learn before our eyes.

he did so many new things...
~got to really see snow for the first time..but he was recovering from being sick the previous week so didn't get to enjoy:( but i did manage to bundle him up on friday in a way too small snow outfit and got one pic!
~watched mommy make a snowman that resembled yoda and a gargoyle.. see for yourself!
~we literally clocked about 2 miles a day (it seemed) in car rides around the house. i had a cookie station set up for him and once we made a few trips, we stopped, got milk and cookies
~new favorite thing is.. ELMO! i kind of pushed it on him.. but now he LOVES him.. oh, and Cookie Monster.. he is another fav
~learned how to say brrrr, cold, cow, and finally.. no! i knew this time was coming..
~and we officially have a TODDLER! he is officially a walker! he has been taking steps for the past 2ish months but could never manage to get his balance down. now he is all.over.the.place! we had better watch out. it is the cutest thing ever to see him walking.. and is he proud..

 

 

we love you noah.. you are getting to be such a big boy!

Cheeeeeeese

Noah’s new thing over the past month or so is his 'cheese' smile. Every time he sees a camera, he flash his new silly smile. And, when you just say cheese, he will scrunch his little face so hard and give this smile! love it. you can really see his (now six) little teeth. it was funny because the other night jim and I were talking about making dinner and said something about cheese, and we looked down and n was so still just sitting there with his smile! he is so hilarious. but not so funny when he decides he is finished with his food and smiles like this.. so you can't stop laughing.
smart kid. he has the spunkiest, quirkest, cutest personality.. i think our dorky selfs add to it, poor kid ;) but he is so happy.
Here are a few shots of his, cheesy smile.  

our little ham!

it's a beautiful day.

 

after the freezing weather over the past few weeks.. it was so nice to get out and play today. we took a few walks and went to our neighborhood park. we had a blast. noah knows the route and when he sees the soccer posts, he will try to peek around the corner and then starts squealing.. a pic of that is below.

 

                                                      

excuse me?

It happened over night. a few weeks ago, noah woke up with an English accent. Not sure where it came from but it is still going strong. It is the funniest thing ever.. his favorite words to say now are ball and bird and sound hilarious with the accent. When I get the video camera out, he can clam up but I’ve managed to get a few good ones of him. what’s next…. mummy? Haha.

my little drummer boy.

                                                                                                        my love.

this look is priceless...

pizza, dog, car, bird, oh!

our little guy is getting so grown up! here is a list of all the words he has been saying. of course, they are at completely random times, and they don’t always sound exact but here they are!

wow
weeeee
yes and yeah
dog
cat (rarely and it comes out as caaa)
mama (rarely .. but working on that one! )
da-da/ daddy/ dad
bear
bird
oh
book
car (ca)
gran (my dad)
balloon
pizza (p-zaaa)
back-up (baah-u) his papaw always tells him that during the day because he is always getting into places he shouldn’t! papaw will tell him to backup, he will, then look up and repeat! too cute!

and it won’t be too long before he says “no”… not so sure i am looking forward to that one! but looking forward to 'i love you' :)

my reflections on 2010.

You may encounter many defeats, but you must not be defeated. In fact, it may be necessary to encounter the defeats, so you can know who you are, what you can rise from, how you can still come out of it. ~Maya Angelou

This past year has really shown me that God is good. He is faithful. He is constant. He cares. He is able. He loves us. He is powerful.

I have trusted in Your mercy. —Psalm 13:5


It has been a very challenging year. a wonderful year. a hard year. a blessed year. a joyful year. a year of growth… and of new beginnings. Looking back, I am grateful for the sufferings we encountered. Of course, when you are in the middle of it, you can’t (or I didn’t) see it as a blessing. I know that God chose us to suffer for Him and to show others how glorious He is. I have always known God, but after this battle, I know Him on such a more intimate level. He gives me peace and comfort. It was the hardest thing we have ever faced...but He never left our side. Even when we felt like all hope was lost, He was there. He is always there...even when you don't feel it.

My love for Him has grown in ways beyond words. I found out that I am stronger than I ever thought I could be. I decided I had two paths.. to get angry and bitter at God, or give it to God and allow Him to work for our good. I chose the latter. God used this situation to make me grow. He could have stopped it or even prevented it from happening. But He allowed it to pass. This wasn’t a surprise to Him. I won’t ever fully understand the entire purpose for it right now. We are limited in our own understanding. I choose to let God use what I considered bad.. for good. It will be purposeful.. not purposeless.

For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known. - 1 Corinthians 13:12

Father, if you are willing, please take this cup of suffering away from me. Yet I want your will, not mine. Then an angel from heaven appeared and strengthened him. -Luke 22:42–43



What we went through was not intended to hurt us.. it was in all honesty, mercy. It was for His glory. I always knew that God was with me. But I didn’t understand the purpose in the pain. My first response was “WHY”. Why are you allowing us to go through this? Why is our son at stake? Why did this happen to us? Why can’t things go the way I wanted it to? Why can’t you end this… right now. why, why, why, why, why. But God doesn’t show us where He is taking us. We just have to trust Him. And that is what I had to learn how to do. It was incredibly hard and there were many tears and times we pleaded for it all to go away. During a low point, we were ready to leave everything behind and move. So we could begin our life as a family, not fight with everything we had to keep him.


Making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ. –Ephesians 1:9

We went through so many stages.. our hearts were hopeful, aching, empty, joyful, doubtful, scared, hurting, mad, anxious... The tactic our lawyers chose was a long shot. We decided to go a different route, by going up the next level to the Court of Appeals. They appealed it before we even had a trial. Long story short (and I've tried to block out a lot), our lawyers told us that many things do not get cancelled by the Court of Appeals. They told us it was less than a one percent chance it would end as it did. We prepared for the worst.. to go and fight with everything we had ... but hoped for the best .. it all to end.

Now all the GLORY to God who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think. –Ephesians 3:20

Through the glory of God, on Thursday, May 20th, we got one of the best calls of our entire life. It is finished. Over... Done. It made history. And God was so ever present on our case. He had it all along. I read this quote and it is so true.. "God chooses to act in our moments of weaknesses so that his grace will be that much more." It was hard to see that through the pain. But He did. And I rejoice.


The LORD will fight for you, and you have only need to be silent. -Exodus 14:14

Many people know the story of Jesus healing the blind man in the Book of John. The disciples of Jesus looked at the blind man and automatically assumed that the man or his parents sinned for him to be blind. Take a look at what Jesus says in John 9:3... “but this happened so that the works of God might be displayed in him." That right gets me speechless.


God use all things for His glory.

He taught me how to love unconditionally those who hurt us, and more importantly, how to forgive. God has challenged me and made me get over many things I thought I never could. And I didn’t get there by my own works. I have strength from Him. I could not do this alone. I know most think I am crazy at what I am doing. but in my heart, I know I am doing the exact thing that God does for us. He forgives us with open arms. no questions asked. God gives us mercy we don't deserve. I am not boasting at what I am doing in anyway. I am just acting out on what God has laid onto my heart.


I want you to know, brothers, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel. -Philippians 1:12

He gave me the strength.

Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. -Colossians 3:12

Slowly over the past five months, I have become close to noah’s birthmom. It has been the hardest thing I have ever done.. but the easiest. if that makes any sense. I know the earlier events were not what we imagined. This is not what I wanted. But maybe, just maybe this will make our relationship even stronger for all of us; and more importantly, for Noah.  And I am so glad that He has placed me where I am.. God takes things that seem bad and uses them for good.


I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. - John 15:11-12


Although she caused us so much hurt, so much pain, so many tears, so much anxiety , so much hurt, so much anger… I still love her. I don’t accept what happened.. but I can choose to learn and grow from what we encountered. One day when I was really struggling and doubting my next steps, God led me to this verse...

I have forgiven in the sight of Christ for your sake, in order that Satan might not outwit us. For we are not unaware of his schemes. - 2 Corinthians 2:10-11

And I did not feel this way at all last year. But God changed my heart. He changed Jim’s heart. We couldn't do this alone. It was by the grace of God.

When he turned his back to leave Samuel, God gave him another heart. - 1 Samuel 10:9

It took a lot of work, hundreds of prayers, fear, excitement, many thoughts of doubt before proceeding. I decided it was time for me to do what God graciously does for us. He loves each of us with unfailing love. Everything that happened, it was allowed for some reason. And I know He is using this mightily for His glory. As God forgives us, I want to step up to be a testimony of what can happen with His love.

God is good, all of the time.

And maybe this will give someone out there a little hope.

birthday.. round two

noah had his second birthday party on saturday with all of his little friends. he had a pancake party and didn’t seem all too interested in them. oh well, we all enjoyed them. n was napping for the first part of it- i hated to wake him but had to!

                        

                                   

 

     

thanks to everyone for being there to celebrate his first birthday!

noah vs. cake

happy birthday to our most incredible, sweetest, funniest, cutest, special little one year old. we are beyond blessed to be your parents. can't wait to see you grow and develop in the next year. we love you more than words can say.